Posts in "Work"

I’m about to quit the company that I’ve served for 6 and a half years. To make that decision was never easy, a constant battle between rationals and emotions - it had worn me down. And I know a few friends are also going through such struggles, wandering the forests of changing jobs or changing teams.

When I was reading the book When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, the sort of 5-questions checklist that served a different perspective of seeing things and clearing my head - something that’s outside of my circle, completely objective but absolutely relative, exactly what I needed.

So I thought it might be helpful to share that piece of advice for those who’re in that stage of life.

To leave or stay, that’s a question. And only you can answer it. After reading it, what’s in your mind? Listen to that voice carefully, no matter what you choose in the end, be honest with yourself.

Here we go.

1. Do you want to be in this job on your next work anniversary?

People are most likely to leave a job on their one-year work anniversary. The second most likely time? Their two-year anniversary. The third? Their three-year anniversary. You get the idea. If you dread the thought of being at your job on your next work anniversary, start > looking now. You’ll be better prepared when the time comes.

2. Is your current job both demanding and in your control?

The most fulfilling jobs share a common trait: They prod us to work at our highest level but in a way that we, not someone else, control. Jobs that are demanding but don’t offer autonomy burn us out. Jobs that offer autonomy but little challenge bores us. (And jobs that are neither demanding nor in our control are the worst of all.) If your job doesn’t provide both challenge and autonomy, and there’s nothing > you can do to make things better, consider a move.

3. Does your boss allow you to do your best work?

In his excellent book Good Boss, Bad Boss: How to Be the Best… and Learn from the Worst, Stanford Graduate School of Business professor Robert Sutton explains the qualities that make someone worth working for. If your boss has your back, takes responsibility instead of blaming others, encourages your efforts but also gets out of your way, and displays a sense of humor rather than a raging temper, you’re > probably in a good place. If your boss is the opposite, watch out - and maybe get out.

4. Are you outside the three- to five-year salary bump window?
One of the best ways to boost your pay is to switch organizations. And the best time to do that is often three to five years after you’ve started. ADP, the massive Human Resources management company, found that this period represents the sweet spot for pay increases. Fewer than three years might be too little time to develop the most marketable skills. More than five years is when employees start becoming > tired to their company and moving up its leadership ranks, which makes it more difficult to start somewhere else.

5. Does your daily work align with your long-term goals?

Ample research from many countries shows that when your individual goals align with those of your organization, you’re happier and more productive. So take a moment and list your top two or three goals for the next five years and ten years. If your current employer can > help you reach them, great. If not, think about an ending.

ーWhen: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, page 169 - page 170

“If your answer to two or more of these is no, it might be time to craft an end,” the author wrote. But I’d say, no rush, take your time, don’t get pushed.

It is you who are gonna live with that decision. Maybe your emotion is already built up, maybe you don’t care of losing the entire forest - as long as you can find the sweetest fruit of yourself or get away from that annoying big bird. Nevertheless, hope this material sheds some light on your situation.

Lots of big changes happened in my life recently, one of them is my
workplace. Lucky enough, now I got a chance to embrace the modern
style of work, that is working remotely.

I suppose you know more or less about remote. 37signals has published
their new book, REMOTE: Office Not
Required, where all the benefits you can
get from remote is described. I’m half way done of that book, and
probably will write another post once I finished it and compared it to
my real experience. So here I’m gonna talk about only one thing, a key
thing, trust.

I’m a true believer of remote work. As in the book says,

The bottom line is that you shouldn’t hire people you don’t trust, or
work for bosses who don’t trust you. If you’re not trusted to work
remotely, why are you trusted to do anything at all?

I totally agree with that. But in reality is, well at least the
environment around me is even every single manager or boss is good and
kind, we still fall into the traditional working style, 9:00 - 18:00+ in
the office, that’s the norm, so dominant, I didn’t even try to convince
anyone to change that.

Fortunately I got a very unique opportunity to do remote work. After the
first day, I should say the biggest and most important “get” is not
about the productivity, freedom or flexibility, although they’re truly
there, it’s about the trust I’ve never experienced at work.

“I trust you. So no matter what, when and where you do the work, I don’t
care, as long as we’re moving forward.” That was pretty much the key
conversation I had. It was a really warm feeling. I don’t know how to
explain it in words exactly, to be honest I did see that remote work
coming before I joined. But when it really happened, I was flattered!
I’ve never got this kind of tremendous trust, it means a lot to me as a
person. I’m sure I’m not gonna waste it.

Trust is the first step to remote work. It’s personal and
fundamental. If you trust your teammate, with proper tools and
communications I really think remote work will work!